The overall climate and participation at the 2005 Rocky Mountain Street Rod Nationals held June 24-26 at the Pueblo, Colorado State Fairgrounds was in one word: HOT! It was the hottest "fry your brain, run for the shade" kind of weather we've ever worked. Please pass the bottled water and the salt tablets! We're talking temps in the high 90s-so blazing warm you could fry an egg and roast a chicken on the sidewalk!

As for hot rods, classic trucks and street machines: The 21st Annual Rocky Mountain Street Rod Nationals featured over 2,300 of the hottest to ever congregate in one place.

Hosted by Colorado Springs Rods & Customs Car Club, the event was three-plus days of hot rod fun under the sun, Rocky Mountain style. On Friday, June 25, a 100-car parade, sponsored by the Pueblo Chamber of Commerce was organized on a first-come, first-served basis. Accompanied by an official police escort, it led to the main entrance at the Colorado State Fair Grounds.

Street rod registration followed, including an NSRA Safety Inspection, and let the fun begin. Various attractions included a swap meet, women's world arts and crafts fair, Super Prize drawings throughout all three days, and the all-day "Cruisin' With Wings" car show broadcast live by radio personality Wings Callahan. And if that weren't enough, Friday night's Live Rock and Roll Show/Vintage Rock and Soul extravaganza kept everyone a-hummin' and a-tappin'!

Those venders lucky enough to set up shop inside the air-conditioned Pueblo Convention Center arena saw plenty of foot traffic. It appeared to be the place to be throughout the entire weekend. Participating companies were American Racing Wheels, PPG, Denver Specialty Center, So Cal Speed Shop, Painless Performance, Colorado Custom, Affordable Street Rods, Haneline Products, and numerous others.

Saturday proved equally hot, but by then most participants had found themselves a special niche where they could park their street rod in the shade, or a place where they could cool off. And there are plenty of things for the kids to do, like frolic in the fountain located in foyer of the Main Exhibit Building, for example.

Highpoints on Saturday included the Vintage Air-sponsored "29 Below" competition, along with the Ford Racing-sponsored "Ford in a Ford" street rod exhibit. The Haywire Electrical Components-sponsored "Hammered Highboy" exhibit, the Watson Street Works "Be-Bop Boulevard" Buick, Olds, and Pontiac exhibit, and the Grass Roots Rods & Customs-sponsored "Mopar Lane" exhibit were also well-attended shows within a show.

The show wrapped up Sunday, June 26, with the awards ceremony that afternoon, more Super Prize giveaways (a grand total of $101,000 worth throughout the three-day weekend,) and a special drawing for a new S-Series Chevrolet pickup truck! The lucky winner of the truck was Robert Shoaf from Pueblo.

And speaking of trucks, classic representations of vintage haulers could be found everywhere you looked, and we rounded up some of the nicest for CCT readers. So without further editorializing, may we present the hot rod trucks of the 21st Annual Rocky Mountain Street Rod Nationals.